Russia-China trade up by 1.7 pc year-on-year in Jan-Feb to $16 Bln

Beijing, Mar 8 : Trade between Russia and China increased by 1.7 percent year-on-year to $16.04 billion in January-February 2019, the Chinese General Administration of Customs said on Friday.

Chinese exports to Russia fell by 4.8 percent to $7.07 billion, while imports from Russia went up to $8.97 billion, showing a 7.5 percent growth in the first two months of 2019. In February alone, China bought products worth $4.08 billion from Russia and exported goods worth $2.75 billion.

In 2018, the bilateral trade for the first time ever exceeded $100 billion — the goal set by the leaders of the two countries — and amounted to $108.3 billion, a 24.5 percent growth in comparison to the volume reached in 2017, according to the Russian Federal Customs Service.

Trade between China and the United States dropped by 19.9 percent in January-February year-on-year, and amounted to $76.49 billion.

According to the customs data, Chinese exports to the United States fell by 14.1 percent, amounting to $59.3 billion, while the United States exported just $17.2 billion worth of goods to China, which marked a 35.1 percent decrease year-on-year.

The trade imbalance between the two countries — one of reasons that prompted US President Donald Trump to start the trade war in the first place — totaled $42.1 billion in the first two months of 2018, gradually contracting. (UNI-SPUTNIK)